Last week in our study we saw from a little bit later in Philippians 3 that the contented Christian longs for heaven. It is a strange idea that contentment here comes from a longing to be somewhere else, but indeed, that is what the Bible teaches. The contented Christian longs for heaven. But heaven also is already, in a sense, in the soul of a godly Christian. What is heaven? Heaven is mainly having fellowship with God and our Lord Jesus Christ, seeing him face to face, enjoying him, and worshiping him. And the Christian already enjoys that now. The contented Christian longs for heaven, but heaven is already in the soul of the godly Christian.

Philippians, as we have said, focuses on the theme of joy. But if we were to pick out a second key theme that we find over and over again in Philippians, it is this theme of the believer’s union with Christ. Indeed, it should not surprise us that that is found over and over again in Philippians, because it dominates all of Paul's letters. Our union with Christ. We are one with Christ. There are a number of ways that Paul expresses this in his letters; one of the most frequent is simply using the phrase “in Christ.” He also uses the phrase “Christ in you,” and he also talks about being “in the Lord,” or other expressions that get this idea across as well.

If we look at Philippians 3:9 this morning, Paul says, “That I may be found in him,” being found in Christ; united with Christ. Then he goes on to say in verse 10, “That I may know him.” Those both express this idea of the believer's union and communion with Jesus Christ. And indeed, all people have been created in the image of God to be in fellowship with God. That is, at least in part, what it means to be created in the image of God. Every human being is created to be in fellowship with God. And when we are not in fellowship with God, something is missing. There is no peace; there is no contentment. As Augustine, the bishop of Hippo, said many years ago, “The heart is restless until it finds its rest in God.”

So Christians contend for the gospel and they contend for the truth that there is no other way to the Father but by Christ alone, not because we want to be dictatorial, but because we believe it is only in Christ and only in fellowship with the Father that people can truly have peace and rest and joy in their lives. In fellowship with Christ, we have that. So it should not surprise us that Paul begins our passage in Philippians 3 by saying:

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you. Philippians 3:1, ESV, emphasis added

“I have been saying this, ‘Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice’ over and over again, and I am going to tell you again: Rejoice in the Lord!” And by the way, he is going to say it again in Philippians 4:4—“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” How does the Christian find joy? In fellowship and in union with Christ.

Now, basically when we talk about union with Christ in the New Testament, we can identify two different types of union. If we think in human terms, we can think of the different kinds of union, or relationships, that we enter into with one another. There is a kind of a worldly, or business, union: For instance, the merger of two companies or the coming together in a partnership. A legal union. A largely objective union. But then we also have another union: The marital union, husband and wife coming together and the two becoming one flesh, coming together as one. If I were to ask you what is the most lasting and satisfying of those two unions, you would probably say the deeper and more intimate union of husband and wife. These are two ways of being united with one another, but one is deeper, more intimate and (prayerfully) more lasting.

In a similar way, Scripture identifies two different ways we are united with the Lord. One is what we can call a covenantal, or a representative, union (we will come back to that term in a minute). The second is what some call an existential, or a spiritual, union. A covenantal/representative union or an existential/spiritual union with the Lord. I want to focus on those two types of union and simply make two points.

A Covenantal Union with God⤒🔗

The first is this: The believer finds contentment in the covenant of grace. In the Bible there are two basic overarching covenants. One we call the covenant of works. God made it with Adam in the Garden of Eden. Adam was required to fully obey God. But he failed, and so he was cast out, and there are consequences for all the descendants of Adam because of Adam's failure. It is called a covenant of works because it was dependent on Adam's full obedience. And Adam and Eve sinned against God. But the second is the covenant of grace. We call it the covenant of grace because that covenant, that relationship with God, does not depend on what we do but it depends on what God does, or in particular, what Christ has done.

There is a beautiful illustration of this covenant in Genesis 15. Go back later today and look at this passage in Genesis 15. It says there that God on this particular day entered into a covenant with Abraham. And what do we read? We read of a fairly strange ceremony, where God tells Abraham, “Take these animals and cut them in half.” That is a little grotesque! [God says], “Separate the animals. Put half of the animal over here and half the animal over here, and do this with a bunch of animals.” And then what happens? God causes Abraham to fall into a deep sleep, and then God himself, in the form of a smoking pot, passes between the pieces of the animals.

That dividing of the animals was an ancient covenant-making ceremony. When people entered into covenants/relationships with one another—whether they be agreements or partnerships or business relationships—you would cut an animal, or animals, in half and you would walk between them. Typically the two parties would pass between them as a way of saying, “If I do not keep my end of the bargain or deal, may what has happened to these animals happen to me.” What is God doing in Genesis 15? God is saying, “This covenant is based on what I do alone, Abraham. It is not based on what you do.” And God is saying, “If this covenant does not come to fruition or if it is not kept, may what has happened to these animals happened to me.”

And ultimately, that is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who on the cross bears the sin and the penalty of his people. Christ is divided. Christ is cut off. The apostle Paul tells us that in Adam all die, but in Christ all will be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:22). When Paul says this, he is not referring to a spiritual union—that somehow we have a spiritual union with Adam or a spiritual union with Christ in that particular sense. He is saying that we are related in another way. We are related to Christ through the covenant. It is a covenantal union, or what we call a representative union. Christ was our representative. He is our covenant head. And so as we are united with him, all that Christ has done becomes ours. His perfect life, his death, his resurrection—it becomes ours. All the benefits of Christ's work becomes ours. Christ did it all.

And that is exactly what Paul, in a sense, is pointing to in our passage here in Philippians 3. He warns the Philippians in verses 2-3 of false teachers. He uses some derogatory terms to refer to them: “dogs,” “evildoers,” “those who mutilate the flesh.” It is probably those who are teaching that you are saved not simply by faith, but by faith plus works. In particular he is probably referring to those who we call Judaizers, who were saying that Gentiles need to be circumcised or they need to become Jews to be fully Christian. That is what Paul battles in Galatians. He warns the Philippians against these false teachers and he says we do not put any confidence in the flesh or what we do.

He goes on to say in verses 4ff that he has lots of reasons to have confidence in the flesh. He has been a pretty good person. He has kept the law. He has been a faithful Jew. He has been faithful to God's commandments. When Paul says at the end of verse 6 “under the law, blameless,” it does not mean he has been perfect, but it means he has had a consistent standard of upholding the law of God. He has done some great things. He has been a good person. But what does he say in verses 7ff.?

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ…

“All my achievements are rubbish. They mean nothing.” Why?

…and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.Philippians 3:7-9, ESV

Paul says, “My righteousness comes not because of what I have done, but only through faith because of what Christ has done.” It is a righteousness that comes from God. It is outside me; it is external to me. It is based on what Christ has completely done. There is a “great exchange,” as Martin Luther called it, that has taken place. Christ has taken my sin, and now I get his righteousness.

Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? It is almost too good to be true. But Paul says, “I rest in that. I find joy in that. I trust in Christ, not my good works, which can never meet God’s perfect standard. I have life and I have joy and I have peace and I have contentment.” This is secure. It is satisfying. It brings peace to the believer when we reflect on and rest in that covenant of grace, not based on what I do but based on what Christ has done.

One of the tragedies in our life in the world today, both within and outside the church, is that we have lost a sense of what the Bible calls the covenant of marriage. One of the things about a covenant in the Bible was you broke it on pain of death. That is the idea of passing between the pieces of the animals: “May I be cut off, may I be struck down, if I do not keep this covenant.” Well, the Bible calls marriage a covenant. We have lost the sense of that today. Marriage thrives under the sense of “Until death do us part,” not simply to say it as something that people say when they get married, but because it is part of the biblical covenant of marriage. “We are going to keep this marriage until death do we part.” And it is only in those circumstances and when we have that understanding that brings peace and fulfilment and even joy in rocky times in marriage.

How much more the unbreakable, unshakable, eternal covenant that God has made with his people? And it is even before the foundation of the world! Paul says in Ephesians 1:4 that God chose us in Christ “before the foundation of the world.” What great news! We have belonged to him before the world was created. It is eternal. It is unshakable. It is unbreakable. Jeremiah Burroughs, in his book The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, says we gain contentment in the covenant of grace. Salvation is not based on what I do. It is not even based on how I feel (praise be to God!). It is based on what Christ has done and his finished work. 

A Spiritual Union with God←⤒🔗

But secondly, we see in our passage and in Scripture that the believer finds contentment in the God of the covenant. In the enjoyment of the God of the covenant. All of the covenants of Scripture contain promises. If you go back and read Genesis 15 over again, you will see there that God makes promises to Abraham in the midst of that covenant. Two key promises that God made to Abraham were the promise of land and a promise of descendants. But the covenants in the Bible contain other promises as well. God tells his people, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”

But the greatest of all is God's promise, “I will be your God and you will be my people,” or simply, “I will be with you.” And this comes to fulfilment for God's people in Christ. In fact, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1:20 that “all the promises of God find their Yes in [Jesus].” In Christ, that promise is fulfilled. God is with us. More than that, God takes up his residence in us. Jesus tells his followers in the Gospel of John that when He goes He will send the Holy Spirit. And He says specifically that He will be “with you and will be in you” (John 14:17). The Spirit is going to come, He is going to be in your midst, but more than that, that Spirit is going to take up residence in your heart.

And Paul says the same thing. The Spirit is in you. He also says Christ is in you. Christ, by his Spirit, takes up residence in his people. There is a vital spiritual union that the believer has with God in Jesus Christ through the Spirit. It is a vital spiritual union, an intimacy. This is what Paul refers to as he goes on in verse 10 of Philippians 3 and says, “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” Paul wants to know Christ: the power of his resurrection and the downside, the fellowship of his sufferings. But as we suffer for the name of Christ, we have more intimate knowledge of him. But we are to be in this union—intimate communion with Jesus Christ. 

If we go back to the marriage analogy that I used earlier, think about the relationship between a husband and wife, or I can think about my relationship with my wife. On the one hand, we are related to one another and we are in union with one another objectively and legally. In the eyes of the church and in the eyes of the state we are united to one another. But if that is all our marriage is, something is missing. There needs to be that other side: that intimacy, that desire to be together and the longing to be together in every way. That is part of the marriage relationship.

It is a very satisfying relationship. But your wife can never satisfy the deepest longings of your soul. In fact, if we expect [our wives] to satisfy our deepest longings, we sin against them, because those longings can only be fulfilled in God and in Jesus Christ. I once heard Carl Trueman, professor at Westminster Seminary, say, “Only an infinite Person can truly satisfy us.” Human beings or temporal things can never satisfy; only an infinite Person can satisfy truly.

This is a mystery to the world. It is a mystery to the world that seeks its fulfilment in people and in things. But it never comes. Why? Because life is meaningless outside of a living, vital relationship with God in Christ. It is meaningless! Marie Antoinette famously said, “Nothing tastes.” And in some ways she was actually drawing on (though probably not consciously or explicitly) the teachings of Jesus, who said, “You” (the church) “are the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13). What does salt do? It preserves, but it also gives flavour. Without Christ, the world has no flavour. It is meaningless! It is unfulfilling. The world tries in many different ways to fill this. That is one of the reasons why we have such a booming entertainment industry today. It is to fill the meaninglessness of life. But as much as entertainment might fill our time, it does not fulfil us. It is only in spiritual union and only in constant communion with the Lord Jesus Christ.

When I travel, I am usually gone for less than a day [before] I long to get back home. I do not do very well away. But that should be our attitude toward God when we are, in a sense, away. Of course, God and Christ are always with us, but there is this sense on the one hand where the believer has this communion and this fellowship together with him—our private worship and communion. But when we are away from that, we should long to get back. We need to be those who practice the spiritual disciplines that the church has traditionally always taught. In fact, the apostle Paul is going to go on in Philippians 4:6 to tell us that we are to pray to God.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7, ESV

What does prayer lead too? It leads to peace with God, which is another way of saying contentment. What does he go on to say next?

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8, ESV

What is another spiritual discipline? It is meditation: meditating on and thinking about the great things of God. What does he go on to say in verse 9? “The God of peace will be with you.” It is our spiritual disciplines—being in constant communion and fellowship with Christ—that leads to peace and contentment in our lives. We cannot do without that. The Bible says that we are to taste and see that God is good (Psalm 24:8). We are to find joy and have delight in God.

It is sometimes that other pleasures come in and they become more prominent than the pleasure of being in fellowship and communion with Christ. And you know what God does? God sometimes takes those away from us. In our home we do not have very good water pressure. I always try to take my shower when nobody else is showering and nobody else is even up, because they might flush the toilet or run some water, and there goes my water. Well, that is what God sometimes does. Sometimes when we have different sources of pleasure and delight, God says, “I am going to cut that off so that you learn to find delight and pleasure in me alone.” And we should give thanks to God in those times. And in those times of difficulty and struggle, we should be earnestly seeking the face of God.

Charles Simeon was a godly preacher and Bible teacher, one who faithfully was in fellowship with Jesus Christ. As Charles Simeon lay dying, he lay on his deathbed, and one of his friends was around him and said to him, “What are you thinking now?” And Simeon said, “I don’t think; I am enjoying.” Why? Simeon was about to go into the presence of his Lord, and even in his final struggles he could say, “I am enjoying.” Because he could say with the apostle Paul, “For me live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Heaven must be in your soul. Seek heaven now: Communion and fellowship with God in Christ. And as you have that enjoyment of God, you will find contentment in him.